Emerging Technologies
BlackRock to grant funds power to track climate risks
The Aladdin platform, which holds trillions of dollars, aims to show whether funds are burning the Earth or saving it.
This Week: Turquoise, OpenFin & FlexTrade; Anna, FTSE Russell, and more
A summary of some of the past week’s financial technology news.
SimCorp takes ‘Aim’ at EDM space with DataCare rollout
Since launching DataCare in April 2020, the vendor has signed up eight clients, including Zurich Group Investment Management.
Companies race to tackle widening cybersecurity talent gap
More realistic job requirements and in-house training programs could boost recruitment in face of increased cyber threats
Waters Wrap: Owning the data & doing something unique with it—the ultimate alchemy
Based off of Max Bowie’s recent deep-dive feature, Anthony says that the world of alt data M&A—and the factors that drive these deals—is likely to change in the near future. For an analogy, just look to sushi.
Google-Greenwich: Financial firms agree on cloud's ubiquity, but vary widely on use cases
New research highlights predicted growth areas for cloud computing—and the tools it enables, such as AI and machine learning—in the capital markets. Spoiler alert: Google says cloud is becoming as ubiquitous as the search giant itself.
Alt data’s second inning: Brace for a long M&A game
The alternative data sector is still relatively nascent, and as such buy-side firms have struggled with how best to incorporate these non-traditional sources of information. While sources say that there will be continued M&A in the market, how those…
After lengthy fight, Bloomberg’s Figi recognized as official US data standard
The Figi is free to use, and becomes the second reference data standard alongside Cusip, authorized for financial instrument identification by the American National Standards Institute.
Waters Wrap: Get ready for the low-code, no-code explosion
Anthony looks at some recent developments in the low-code and no-code spaces, and tries to better understand what’s hype and what’s reality.
Waters Wrap: Some random thoughts about Big Tech disruption and M&A in Q4
Anthony looks at what he thinks will be the biggest topics during the last quarter of 2021.
Machines can read, but do they understand?
A novel NLP application built on a Google transformer model can help predict ratings transitions
Waters Wavelength Podcast: Episode 241 (Big Tech and the capital markets)
Wei-Shen and Tony explore the idea of big tech companies disrupting the traditional Wall Street vendors.
A tale of two titans: Microsoft vs. Bloomberg
Bloomberg has fended off rivals to its business for years but Jo believes a more credible threat may be emerging.
Six corporate actions prototype aims to slash data delivery time
If the prototype is put into production, delivery of corporate actions data for dividends could be reduced from up to 24 hours to 15 to 30 minutes.
Waters Wrap: Cloud, AI, Interop: The evolutions driving fixed-income progress
Anthony believes these advancements will provide the opening for Big Tech firms to created outsized influence that will change financial technology forever.
FactSet, Microsoft collaborate on voice-activated analytics
The data vendor has deployed machine learning across its ETF and fund screening datasets, and plans to interoperate with other big tech firms in the future.
This Week: Azentio, TriOptima, Equinix, TNS, and more
A summary of some of the past week’s financial technology news.
AI helps one investor screen targets against UN ethical goals
PanAgora has developed a two-stage process that aims to weed out the greenwashers.
Risky business: Moody’s attempts to carve out space in overrun ESG market
In the past two years, Moody’s Analytics has acquired four vendors that the ratings specialist hopes to integrate for ESG offerings in a crowded market.
The market data vending machine: The pros and cons of self-service procurement
Brokers and exchanges have begun rolling out “self-service” portals that allow clients to choose data and services on an a la carte basis. Opinions vary on whether they are the Holy Grail or a poisoned chalice.
Firms can't afford to miss out on digital assets, says SBI Digital Markets
Waters Wavelength Podcast Interview Series: Kris Hopkins, now head of capital markets at SBI Digital Markets, discusses the opportunities for capital markets firms in the digital asset space.
Waters Wrap: Can interop connect the bond market better than consortiums? (Yes)
Anthony says that if trading firms want to take advantage of new datasets in fixed income and advancements in machine learning, they’re going to first have to embrace interoperability.
People Moves: Exegy, SEC, Clearwater Analytics, KopenTech, Lightspeed, Databricks
A look at some of the key people moves from this week, including Craig Schachter (pictured), who joins Exegy as chief revenue officer
T+1—A Step in the Right Direction
Next-day or T+1 settlement of fixed income trades might seem a pipe dream, but there are few insurmountable operational or technology reasons why such a move cannot happen. As is invariably the case with the capital markets, the regulators hold the key,…